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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22609114">Sideways and at Angles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyDishes/pseuds/JellyDishes'>JellyDishes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age II</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Implied Sexual Content, romosmut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:07:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>611</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22609114</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyDishes/pseuds/JellyDishes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bethany Hawke has a surprise for Varric in the form of cotton and metal and silk, but the surprises don't end there. It never does, with her, and he wouldn't have it any other way.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bethany Hawke/Varric Tethras</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sideways and at Angles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hidden beneath Bethany’s leggings was a flash of cream colored cotton that made Varric’s chest go strangely tight. His eyebrows went up as her leggings went down, baring a pair of thigh high stockings. He stared. They were soft to the touch, the cotton clearly of a higher quality than he usually saw her wear, which meant that they had been specifically saved up for. He didn’t have to look up at Bethany to know what expression she would be wearing on her face, and in a way he was more than a little uncertain about doing so.</p><p>He stared.</p><p>Threaded through the cuff of the stocking was a silk ribbon. It was thin, and worn to the point that it was hard to tell if it had originally been black or green, but the rasp of it against his calloused palms sent shivers up his spine.</p><p>The garter belt it was attached to, however, was much newer.</p><p>If he hadn’t already been kneeling, that may well have brought him to his knees. Varric didn’t say a word. Couldn’t. His tongue felt too thick and clumsy for something that felt so delicate, as liable to come apart in his rough hands as an old bit of silk. He felt Bethany go still where she sat, and Varric had to pause again, eyes falling shut against the words clamoring to be said.</p><p>His silence was full to bursting as Bethany bent to press her lips to his forehead, her curls tumbling down to curtain his face. They hid her expression just as effectively as they did his own, which was perhaps the point. “Do you like them?” If the room hadn’t been so still, he would have had to strain to hear her. As it was, the only thing he heard more clearly was the thundering beat of his own heart.</p><p>“Sunshine,” he said in a tone just as hushed, just as careful, “Bethany. If I liked these any more, I would have dropped dead on the spot.”</p><p>She made a soft noise that might have been a laugh, and wrapped her arms around him. She didn’t care about her state of undress anymore, or if she did, she had set aside that particular bit of self-consciousness in her relief. For his part, Varric was certainly well aware of it. Actually found it easier to touch her in some ways when all he could see was her face, especially when his hands swept across the raised, puckered burn scars that spattered the front of her thighs.</p><p>They were small things, no larger than a droplet, but almost a dozen of them were scattered across her skin like someone had been shaking rainwater off of their hands. According to Bethany, that was almost exactly what had happened, except that it hadn’t been water she had been practicing summoning with her father that day.</p><p>“Bethany.” He kept his eyes trained on hers as he bent his head and pressed his lips to each one. “Every one of these is more than reason enough to find you…” He paused, and he knew she thought he was going to say ‘beautiful,’ the way everyone did. Instead, he dropped his eyes away and kissed the nearest scar again as if he could kiss away the fear and guilt she had described seeing on her father’s face, that he saw again in hers every time he looked at these scars. But less, every time. He only wished, lips curving in a silent prayer, that she would want him beside her long enough to see the day there would be nothing in her eyes but happiness at seeing him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading this far!I apologize in advance for any lateness with replies, as I have severe social anxiety. I appreciate every one, however, just as I do you for reading this &lt;333</p></blockquote></div></div>
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